182 



COLORADO. 



CONGO FREE STATE. 



regulations and safeguard to be provided by law, 

 wnereby such interests shall be added to such funds 

 and become a part thereof, and we pledge all of our 

 candidates for the Legislature to the enactment of such 

 a law. 



Being opposed to all unnecessary taxation, cither 

 direct or indirect, we repudiate the proposed amend- 

 ment to our State Constitution, which is intended to 

 increase the rate of State taxation, and call upon the 

 people to aid us in defeating it. The proposed in- 

 crease results from Eepublican extravagance, contin- 

 ued by that party in disregard of its pledges, the ex- 

 penses and appropriations for the last General Assem- 

 bly having been above $500,000 for each of the years 

 1887-'88, exclusive of appropriations for the capitol 

 building. 



We again denounce the payment of county, precinct, 

 and court officers by a system of exorbitant fees, and 

 again demand that their compensation shall be fixed 

 by salary and paid at stated intervals. 



We favor the passage of a law concerning elec- 

 tions which shall embody the best features of the 

 California!! and Australian systems. 



We reiterate the sentiments of our past platforms 

 concerning the necessity of legislationwhich will more 

 effectually regulate and restrain all lines of transpor- 

 tation, rebates, overcharges, discriminations against 

 individuals and localities, fictitious capitalization, and 

 disregard of constitutional checks, which will continue 

 until such legislation and the establishment of a board 

 of commissioners, with ample power to inquire into 

 and correct abuses and to fix and enforce uniform 

 maximum rates for freight and passenger traffic, 

 and we pledge all our candidates on the State and leg- 

 islative ticket to its enactment. We propose no leg- 

 islation that can affect the rights of railway compa- 

 nies, to cripple or injure them, but we insist that the 

 rights of individuals and localities must be protected 

 and preserved. We denounce the majority of the Sen- 

 ate of the last General Assembly which defeated the 

 will of the people by preventing such legislation, and 

 we commend the House of Representatives for its gal- 

 lant but ineffectual effort to protect and secure the 

 rights of the people. 



We heartily indorse the proceedings of the late 

 Interstate Deep- Water Harbor Convention of Denver, 

 and pledge the nominee of this convention for Con- 

 gress to do all in his power, if elected, to secure the 

 establishment of ample harbor facilities on the Texas 

 coast. 



The necessity of a reservoir system, by means of 

 which our surplus waters can be stored and utilized 

 for agricultural and kindred purposes, is constantly 

 increasing, and we promise to labor for the ultimate 

 accomplishment of this object. 



We believe in the encouragement of free and in- 

 telligent immigration to this State, and favor the 

 passage of a law creating a bureau of immigration to 

 be composed of the Executive Department without 

 additional salary. 



Foreign contract labor and Chinese immigration 

 are the product of Eepublican administrations. We 

 denounce them both, and earnestly recommend the 

 enactment of such further legislation as is essential 

 for their complete destruction. 



We are opposed to the further sale of our school- 

 lands, and demand an investigation of the man- 

 ner in which said lands have heretofore been dis- 

 posed of. 



After an energetic canvass, the Republican 

 State and national ticket was successful in the 

 November election, by pluralities ranging from 

 10,000 to 14,000. Only one of the forty-two 

 counties in the State returned a Democratic 

 plurality. A Republican Congressman was 

 elected, and the next Legislature will be Repub- 

 lican. The people voted at the same election 

 upon the question whether the rate of taxation 



for State purposes for 1889 and 1890 should 

 be increased from four to five mills, and also 

 upon two amendments to the State Constitu- 

 tion one permitting county indebtedness with- 

 in certain limits, the other modifying the clause 

 forbidding a State debt, and especially provid- 

 ing that a loan of $600,000 may be contracted 

 to meet obligations of the State outstanding 

 on Dec. 31, 1888. All of these propositions 

 were defeated. 



COXGO FREE STATE, a country in equatorial 

 Africa, constituted by the general act of the 

 Congo Conference, which was signed at Ber- 

 lin, Feb. 26, 1885. The boundaries of the state 

 were defined by conventions made "by the In- 

 ternational Association of the Congo with Ger- 

 many on Nov. 8, 1884, with Great Britain on 

 Dec. 16, 1884, with the Netherlands on Dec. 

 27, 1884, with France on Feb. 5, 1885, and with 

 Portugal on Feb. 14, 1885. The powers re- 

 serve for a period of twenty years the right of 

 deciding whether freedom of entry shall be 

 maintained or not. The navigation of the Con- 

 go is placed under an International Commis- 

 sion representing all the powers signing the 

 act. By a vote of the Belgian Legislature, 

 April 28 and 30, 1885, the Free State was 

 placed under the sovereignty of King Leo- 

 pold II individually, the Belgian Government 

 having no power or responsibility in relation 

 to it. 



The Govern or- General is M. Ledeganck, un- 

 der whom are chiefs of provinces and other of- 

 ficials. There are four administrative divis- 

 ions or provinces: the Lower Congo, Living- 

 ston Falls and the Pool, the district between 

 the Pool and the equator, and the Upper Con- 

 go. The principal stations occupied are Banana, 

 Boma, Matadi, Lukunga, Leopoldville, Bangala, 

 Stanley Falls, and Luluabourg. Stanley Falls, 

 which had been abandoned in consequence of 

 Arab attacks, was reoccupied in 1888 by offi- 

 cers of the Free State. Tippoo Tib, who has 

 been the most prosperous of the Arab slave 

 raiders in this region, having his seat at Nyan- 

 gwe, had for some time previous acted as tem- 

 porary chief of the station, and received a 

 salary for maintaining order. The Central 

 Government at Brussels consists of the King 

 of the Belgians, and three heads of Depart- 

 ments Foreign Affairs and Justice, Finance, 

 and the Interior. 



Area and Population. The state includes a 

 small section on the north bank of the Congo, 

 from its mouth to Manyanga, French territory 

 intervening between this last station and the 

 mouth of the Likona, whence the boundary ex- 

 tends northward to 4 north latitude, eastward 

 to 30 east longitude, southward to Lake Bang- 

 weolo, 12 south latitude, westward to 24 eats 

 longitude, northward to 6 south latitude, then 

 westward to the south bank of the Congo at 

 Nokki. The area of the Free State is estimated 

 at 1,056,200 square miles, with a population of 

 about 27,000,000. There is an army of 2,000 

 native Africans. 



